Steps

 

Everything you do

Every act 

Every deed 

Every word 

Is a step 

In one direction 

Or another 

Every choice 

Every decision 

Even not deciding 

Or not choosing 

Is ultimately a choice 

A choice 

Which moves you 

In a definite direction 

Whether mundane

Or extraordinary 

Whether small or large 

In a whisper or a shout 

With kindness 

Or malice 

Or even apathy 

It’s all a step 

Forward

Backward 

To the left 

To the right 

Into the mess 

Deeper 

Or a step outward 

It’s exhausting 

Truly exhausting 

To consider 

For every decision

The consequence

The ramification

Merely, the direction

Where is this taking me ?

Still, we step 

Choosing another direction 

Or following the flow 

Mindfully or mindlessly 

One foot following the last 

“A step going into hell 

Or a step getting out of it”*

So

Hello, today 

Where shall we go, today? 

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

April 2, 2022  

*(Quote from a 2005 interview with Milton Glaser, in Why Design Matters by Debbie Millman, 2021, p. 30)